


a Ghost from your Past

by cyndrat



Series: Detroit: Reverse Roles [12]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (somewhat minor), Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Android Gavin Reed, Angst, Choking, Emotional Hurt, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, Role Reversal, Strangulation, Swearing, Tags Contain Vague Spoilers, Violence, and your android bf is pretty awesome but..., tfw your past comes back to bite you in the ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-11-13 03:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18023606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyndrat/pseuds/cyndrat
Summary: He's got a strange feeling again. It might be because they've split up to search this abandoned office building, because he's got Gavin's voice in his ear instead of seeing his LED and blue armband at his side, but it feels like something else. Something... more significant. Something more likely to cause issues.He just didn't expect anything-anyone- from his past to be the reason.He really should know better by now.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY! so uhh  
> here y'allll go!  
> will be, minimum, 3 chapters with POV changes and stufff  
> and then a PART 2 so to speak... that will pick up not terribly long after the last scene of the last ch of this so  
> enjoy?

_“Good to go?”_ Gavin asks, sending the question directly to the earpiece instead of vocalizing. It’s… almost a little weird, the entire setup, but it sounds wholly like _Gavin_ in his ear and lets them communicate while separated.

“I hear you,” Nines answers quietly, seeing the slight smile that flashes across his android’s face. His words have apparently translated across well enough then.

_“See you on the other side, darling.”_

Nines rolls his eyes, but Gavin is already on the move, stalking towards the staircase that leads up - up to the higher concentration of mechanized objects… or something. He still doesn’t completely understand the way Gavin seems able to track androids, though he’s received the explanatory lecture at least three times now.

But that’s irrelevant at the moment. Gavin’s task tonight is locating the androids on their list, observing and potentially detaining them. Nines’ task is finding the two human conspirators, and more evidence if he comes across it. That’s why he’s headed to the lounge that the blueprints claim to be down the hallway on the right.

He starts moving forwards, allowing himself one last glance up the stairs where Gavin’s glowing armband is still visible before focussing wholly on the hall in front of him.

He’s got… an uneasy feeling, though it’s hard to say whether that’s because of the case, the abandoned building, or the fact that they’ve split up. They don’t have a very good track record whenever they separate. The most significant situations that come to mind are the serial kidnappings/killings when Gavin had encountered a disruptor field for the first time, and Klim’s case where he’d gotten drugged twice. Nothing else has been so disastrous, but the fact stands.

Reaching out with a soft sigh, Nines nudges open the first door that he comes to. It should be one of several offices down here- Yup, desk and chair, bookshelf, filing cabinet. And so very empty, devoid of life with every flat surface cleared of items, and he suspects the filing cabinet would be empty too. Next.

It’s a simple rinse and repeat, two on the other side of the hallway, another on this side… It’s nearly boring, actually, but he still can’t shake the apprehension creeping up his spine.

He can’t decide what’s causing it, either. It’s like… It’s like he’s forgotten something, or he knows he’s missing a piece of information that he really should have… Hm.

“Hey, can you remind me of the names of Valeri’s suspected associates, the androids?”

_“... Why?”_

Nines ignores the response he automatically wants to give - brushing it off as unimportant, or even refusing to share his ambiguous reason. Gavin deserves more than that. “Not sure, just... a weird feeling.”

Gavin probably sighs a little, but they’re both well aware that the last instance Nines had had a ‘weird feeling’ that he hadn’t shared, he’d ended up drugged with the android fighting off a virus in his linen closet. _“No registered names for HR400, TE900, TR400, VH500. Registered names are Kenneth WB200, BRUTON, Shawn CX100, MALLORY, Tamica MC500, WILLOWS, Ella MP500, WILLOWS, Scarlet ST200.”_

“Shit.” The way Gavin just listed the names off has to be in a different order than it’d been in the case file, or something, otherwise he could’ve realized earlier. Nines peeks into another room - this one a smaller office than the others he’s seen so far. “Pretty damn sure Ella and Scarlet know me. Scarlet was- I think-… Ella really doesn’t like me.”

There’s quiet for just a moment, and Nines moves into the small office, closing the door behind him to lean back against it and rub his face. This realization of his could turn out to be a problem for them. _“I’m calling it. Regroup, now. Where are you?”_

Nines cracks the door open to check that the hallway is empty, then steps out and turns back towards the doors they’d come in. “Hallway to the lounge. Near the, uh-”

There’s no sign of warning - no swish of fabric, or harsh breathing after a hurry down the hallway, or a single audible footstep. The closest thing to a warning Nines gets is the sharp pain on the side of his head before he’s collapsing to the floor like a puppet with its strings abruptly released.

“Hmh,” tuts a feminine voice, and a socked foot nudges his arm. The voice in the earpiece is just loud enough for her audio processors to catch. She leans down to pluck the tech from the man’s ear then holds it close to her own head, close enough for it to pick up her voice. “Good luck,” is all she says before tossing it at the wall and leaning down again to grab the man’s wrist.

_“... Fuck.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh  
> i promise.....that i resolve this........some of this..................  
> this was monstrous to write; and not cause of the word count, because of the absolute _oh god oh god, no, me@me whyyy_ emotion i kept having as i came back and tried to work on it, coupled with the evil author vibes i've been giving myself  
> lightly edited, but it  
> it's done  
> last ch of "Ghost from your Past" will go up tomorrow, and i promise the next work - "Ghost in your Present" will start going up within the next week as portions of it are already finished  
> don't hate me??

This is… painfully familiar. There’s pain too, of course - a stabbing pain above and behind his left ear, a barely there ache in his shoulders, a vague complaint in his back about his stretched-out position. The familiarity of the situation, though, is what really has Nines twisting to push off the floor with hands bound by what looks like his set of android cuffs.

The room is one he’d seen not long ago - the sixth that he’d cleared - a larger office with bookshelves completely filling one wall, although the desk and chair have since been shoved back from the middle of the space.

His head spins when he tries to focus on anything in particular, and trying to move too quickly sends a roll of nausea through his stomach.

None of that is helped when someone grabs a handful of his hair and throws him back down to the floor.

This too is familiar, as if drawn directly from a memory. An android sitting heavy on his torso, staring him down with eyes that are wide and bright with emotion, but cold - and they’re a different, deeper brown than he remembers. Well, it is a different android. Scarlet had perched a little lower, long, red-tipped blonde hair curtaining her face as she jerked his shirt up and traced a circle in the centre of his torso with her sharp nails, blue blood dripping onto his stomach from where he’d shot her in the shoulder.

No, this is Ella. Her weight is neatly balanced between pressing down on his bottom ribs where she's sitting and his biceps where she’s gripping his arms, pushing him down against the floor while making it just a little harder to breathe. Her hair falls below the edge of her jaw, and she’s got a single bright red streak on the right side, which is new since their… encounter two and a half years ago.

God, he knew - the moment Gavin ran him through the names again, _he knew it was her._ And he knew something was going to go wrong. He just hadn’t quite anticipated it happening so soon.

He also hadn’t counted on her recognizing him instantly and apparently holding a grudge.

“I told you,” she hisses, grabbing hold of his chin and tilting his head up, hard. Nines is sure he winces, because the move forces his shoulders up while she’s still pinning his arms and the strain hurts. Not quite as much as the look of pure loathing in her gaze though. Now _that’s_ almost enough for him to shudder and shrink away, but he’s well trapped. “I told you I _loved her.”_

Oh shit, he really is in trouble here, isn’t he? What he remembers about that afternoon is indistinct, because it had just been one more stop to warn someone with an android registered in their name about deviance, until it had become more. Until it had become a hostile encounter, and he’d… Yeah, he recalls shooting Scarlet, then she-

Wait- _‘loved’?_

Ohh… this is worse than he thought.

They really, _really_ shouldn’t have split up this time.

“It’s your fault.” She punctuates her declaration by shoving his head back against the floor. “Your fault I d- that she-” Ella growls wetly and squeezes her fingers tighter around his jaw and arm. Her nails are sharp where they dig into his skin, a twinge of pain accompanying the pressure. “I told you I loved her, then you hurt her and now I’m going to _hurt you.”_ Fuck… she’s an older android, shouldn’t have combat protocols or preconstruction software like Gavin does, but she’s faster than he is, stronger too - and she’s emotional. She’s literally shaking with emotion and Nines knows very well that’s how many of the android-associated homicide cases started.

This is not a fair fight. He has to stay calm. He has to stay calm or else he definitely won't be getting out of this.

“I hate you,” she spits, the fire in her eyes telling him that this isn’t new. This sentiment had not arisen since he and Gavin got to the building earlier; it predates tonight by months, years. She’s had time to think about this, to let the anger and pain build. He takes a shaky breath, shifting unintentionally in her hold and she slaps him fast, a heavy smack that snaps his head sideways and he definitely blacks out for a second or two.

And when he blinks and tries to turn his head back to face Ella straight on, the cold touch of metal meets him before her gaze does, and he instantly stills.

Nines exhales slowly, shifts just his eyes to look at her as best he can. _Stay calm,_ he thinks again at the vicious, twisted expression on her face. It makes him feel like trapped prey, the way he does when Gavin sometimes looks at him with a sharp grin and dark eyes- Except this is different. This is _so very different,_ because the threat Gavin makes is hot hands on his hips and pinning him to a wall to kiss him senseless and little nips on his skin. This…

This is a heartbroken woman with the promise of deadly vengeance in her gaze.

God, where is Gavin anyways? He’d given the order to regroup before Ella knocked Nines out in the middle of a sentence, his android has got to know that something’s gone wrong. But he doesn’t have the earpiece anymore, and his phone is off, and the only way Gavin will be able to find him is if he opens the right door.

Or if Nines makes enough noise to be heard, but that’s much more likely to get him shot.

“How long would you last,” Ella says, voice low and eyes sharp as she slides the cold of his gun down his neck, “I wonder, if I shot you right where you shot her? Hm?” She presses the muzzle against his shoulder, precisely where he’d hit Scarlet, he’s sure.

He’s also sure that she’s not looking for an answer, not really.

She’s looking for a reaction. She’s just trying to provoke a reaction, and he’s probably going to disappoint her. What is he supposed to do, cry and beg? That wouldn’t achieve anything more than what’s already going on. It wouldn’t change anything about this situation.

Ella pushes down, and Nines can almost feel the cold metal through his jacket, a nip of pressure and pain that promises worse to come. “Would you scream?” she asks, leaning down to set her face close to his. Her tone drops, her words softening to something that feels like a dark mimic of intimacy. “Would you beg me to make it stop as you bled out? Or would you still be a silent, emotionless bastard?”

 _Emotionless._ That almost makes him laugh. It's not that it's an unreasonable thing to say about him - after Cole, the station gossips started whispering that Connor drowns his emotions, but RK locks his away. He hasn't heard anything like that for weeks though. Not since Hank was sent by CyberLife, and then Gavin trailed in after him, grumbling curses all the way. Not since he got a partner who could match him word for word and step by step, who he could fall in love with.

He hasn’t had a reason to be emotionless for a while - but all Ella had seen of him would have been cold indifference. And he can’t decide whether pulling that mask back on will do him any favours here or not.

She shifts backwards and drags his gun down, as if drawing a line from his shoulder through his heart and to his stomach and he knows his focus is starting to slip even as he tries desperately to stay fully aware of here and now.

He just- There is _literally_ nothing he can do here, he has no control and no way to wrest any back from this android.

Speaking of, he doesn’t remember Ella being nearly so fierce or sharp or threatening - Scarlet, maybe, but even then, she’d been concentrating more on her pain and keeping him down for them to escape, rather than on taking any sort of revenge.

____

Connor had burst in to that apartment to find him not long after the two androids had run. Telling him it was some twin precognition shit, and not the fact that he and the green officer he’d volunteered to help go door to door hadn’t checked in for a while.

____

He hadn’t really been hurt back then.

____

And Connor’s busy tonight. Occupied, same as everyone else, by the influx of conflict and crime that had just continued to steadily tick upward since Remembrance Day, and if Nines and Gavin had been willing to wait a few days before acting on this lead they might have been able to get more personnel from another precinct. Though the risks of waiting were higher than either of them liked, so they’d gone ahead, together but alone.

____

Where the fuck is Gavin? It feels like an hour or more that Ella’s been leaning on his chest, though he knows, rationally, that it can’t have been that long. Gavin would find him before the hour mark, he’s sure. Well… No, he is sure. Even if the rest of the androids they were anticipating swarmed him or something, Gavin’s preconstruction program sets him leagues ahead of any household model, and Nines would like to believe he’s worth the spectacular fight that would break out.

____

Even if he had to fight through seven androids, Gavin should be here… any time. But… If Gavin were to bust open the right door and find them here like this… What would Ella do? What would _Gavin_ do? What risks would he be willing to take with Nines’ life in the process of rescuing him and stopping Ella from shooting him?

____

Really, it comes to this: how much faster is his android, and would that be fast enough?

____

Fingers twist in his hair to claim his attention, jerk his head to the side then lift just to smack him down against the ground again. He can’t help but make a sound, something small and pained- And Ella doesn’t seem to notice. She’s staring down directly in front of her, not at his face, but he doesn’t dare move far enough to follow her gaze. He gets an answer though, just a moment later, when the cold of metal presses to skin above his hip. Between the two of them, they must have dragged his shirt up and now the expanse of skin has caught her attention.

____

She’s silent, pushing the fabric further up his torso with the muzzle of his gun and there’s no way the blunt metal should be so effective in that task but apparently it is. Fuck. He represses a shiver at the feel of it dragging up his ribs, up, up to rest almost gently above his heart. He wonders a little distantly how fast it’s beating now. Gavin would say something, would recite the rate and tease, but Ella… She doesn’t make a sound.

____

The gun is raised off his skin. There’s a soft thump as it’s set on the ground out of his sight, and then the sensation of metal is quickly replaced with inhumanly smooth synthskin and sharp nails, touching over every mark and scar that’ve been pressed into his skin at one time or another. It’s almost clinical, this touching, a far cry from how Gavin touches him with something near to worship, and he can close his eyes for a moment without the fear of forgetting which android is on top of him. Ella’s touch is clinical, measured, calculating-

____

Until it changes.

____

She traces a ragged circle on his skin. He doesn’t need to look to guess that she’s outlining a few of the lines Scarlet had clawed into the centre of his chest, the marks that are scars that haven’t faded yet. It’s because some thirium got into the wounds, they’d told him. Might not heal quite like he’s used to, because the stuff is slightly toxic. It had felt like a burn back then, like Ella’s fingers do now as they press hard against scar tissue, her nails just sharp enough to make shallow slices in his skin.

____

He breathes lightly, staring at the ceiling past Ella’s head. She’s well distracted. It’s unfortunate that she’s still sitting on him, but his gun’s out of her hands now and he has an idea.

____

His idea goes like this.

____

Thirium pump regulators are notoriously difficult to replace both quickly and properly without assistance.

____

If an android is trying to rush, it’s far more likely that the biocomponent gets put back at an incorrect angle, or rotated several degrees. Not problematic enough to necessarily lead to immediate shutdown, but enough to prove somewhat of a hindrance.

____

That’s what Nines is hoping for as he snaps into motion to pull at Ella’s pump regulator below the edge of her cropped sweater, prying it from her chassis and flinging it away from both of them. She gasps and her movement stutters as she starts to reach for his gun, then appears to change her mind and pushes off the ground with both hands. She staggers on her feet, clearly dealing with the biocomponent’s absence worse than either of the two NK models do, and Nines takes the opportunity that he’s made for himself.

____

He grabs for his gun and scrambles to his feet, heading for the door as fast as he can with his head pounding and a return of the nausea that he thought he’d already kicked. With the number of times Ella had grabbed him and smacked his head back down though, he’s not entirely surprised that it’s making a comeback. Nines won’t give in to that though - _can’t afford to_ \- because he’s got to find Gavin.

____

He sways a little as he hurries through the door to the hall and turns quickly towards the entrance. _Find Gavin, get out._

____

He can’t fight against an android who definitely wants vengeance and maybe wants him dead - and while he loves Gavin dearly and is well aware of his impressive abilities, Nines worries he won’t be able to fight back as effectively as he’s capable of with that sort of intent on the other side.

____

Should he call out? He can’t announce his presence to Gavin without doing the same for everyone else in the area, and he can’t immediately see his android.

____

No. No, it’s too much of a risk, and besides, Ella has no idea that they care so deeply for each other. If she did-

____

Nines shakes his head, lurching to the wall. If she knew, they’d both be at risk. Higher risk, different risk - still something he’d prefer to avoid.

____

He takes a few steps with a hand leaning heavy on the wall before pushing off because it really isn’t doing anything to help steady him. He’s shaking a little bit. Adrenalin probably, fight and flight and freeze getting all twisted up in his brain because fight is pretty much a losing battle, flight is clearly a struggle, and freeze is not an option he wants to explore. Not unless he can find Gavin.

____

But he’s trying, and he doesn’t hear any footsteps behind him yet.

____

_Maybe Ella couldn’t get her pump regulator back in time._

____

He scoffs at himself. The office wasn’t that big, and the android isn’t completely stupid. She’d have known what she was doing, and exactly how much time she had - he’s seen footage, courtesy of Gavin, of what his HUD looks like at various points, including when he’s got a shutdown time blaring brightly.

____

God, how many offices are there before he reaches the foyer, where the stairs are? How far is he from the place he’d seen his android last?

____

Too far, clearly- someone’s kicking at the back of his knees and he collapses gracelessly with a grunt, gun skidding away out of his hand upon contact with the floor. No, no, there was no sound, no warning, _not fair._

____

Ella is growling low in her throat as she drags him up against her body, and he knows it’s her because he caught a glimpse of short, sharp nails as one hand flew up to wrap around his throat.

____

He gasps in a breath, scrabbling at her wrist in faltering hope that he can loosen her hold. It’s messy, awful technique really, but he feels short of air anyways. That’s probably caused by the panic, to be honest, but knowing that doesn’t lessen the effect any. If anything, it increases- only increases, increases, _increases,_ only tightens his chest and shortens his breaths and Ella looping her left hand between his arms to drag his hands back down is _not helping._

_____ _

Neither does the way she clamps her fingers down on his hip, one hot hand holding him in place with ease and this _is not Gavin,_ but without seeing her his brain is starting to struggle with the distinction.

_____ _

She shifts her hold, yanks his jaw up and back and he has to move with her, letting his head tip back against her shoulder, her hair brushing against his cheek. The strain on his neck is uncomfortable, but not as concerning as the immovable hand that squeezes, making him gasp and choke on nothing. Fuck, he’s screwed.

_____ _

He struggles; squirms instinctively, desperately, but for all that Ella was designed as a household assistant, she’s more than strong enough to keep him helpless. All that his struggling earns him is a tightening of her grip and a low snarl in his ear.

_____ _

Actually, wait- That struggling earned him information. There’s open air directly behind his left arm, he can feel her torso pressed against his back, and she’s got her body a fair ways out of line with his… He can’t do much, not with the way she’s got her arm twisted around his, but her thirium pump regulator should be right around where his right elbow is…

_____ _

He’ll only get one shot at this, because if he tries and fails she’ll correct the vulnerability, maybe correct her chokehold as well to be more effective. And that would spell game over.

_____ _

He takes a ragged breath, then another even though it doesn’t do much, then he bursts into motion, jabbing his elbow back as hard as he can and twisting away from her to break her hold. She shrieks and releases him, and Nines fights his body’s inertia to get up, get away, get out of reach.

_____ _

He stumbles on his feet, but he is away. He can move, and he knows he can’t run from _his_ android, but he’s going to pretend that he’s confident he has a chance of escaping from this one.

_____ _

That’s all he can focus on as he forces his legs to comply with movement: _Maybe he can outrun her. Maybe he can hold out til Gavin shows up. Maybe he hurt her enough to slow her down. Maybe none of the other androids are here tonight. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe she’ll give up, maybe she’ll drop the grudge, maybe she’ll let him go without doing her damndest to fuck him up._

_____ _

Yeah right. He must have a concussion - wouldn’t be a surprise - because his thoughts are swiftly devolving into unrealistic idealism, which is never a good sign.

_____ _

He returns to his maybes though, as he makes an attempt to run down the hallway that didn’t seem nearly this long earlier. None of them except the first few are in any way realistic, though it’s nice, almost comforting to imagine-

_____ _

But he’s getting distracted.

_____ _

He’s also getting forcefully jerked to a stop by a massive hand on his arm. Seriously, this guy’s fingers are practically wrapped all the way around his bicep, and strong, strong, _strong_ and of course it’s one of the other goddamn androids that has halted his momentum, the TR400. Taller than he is, and broader, and towering completely unnecessarily as he just stares blankly up, stares at this _massive_ android who stopped his momentum with one hand.

_____ _

“Looking for this, Ellie-Scarlet?” the behemoth rumbles as he turns, and Nines is trying really hard to move his feet fast enough not to trip with the forced movement, but the android circumvents _that_ issue altogether by just lifting him off the fucking ground. 

_____ _

And then he can see Ella stalking towards him. Her gait is a little unsteady, and there’s a few drops of thirium trickling down from her regulator port. She looks pissed, and Nines isn’t quite sure where his gun’s gone but she doesn’t have it and that is far more reassuring than it has any right to be. He’s probably already got visible proof in a chain of forming bruises around his neck that she doesn’t need a firearm to hurt him.

_____ _

And then she-

_____ _

Wait, wait, the behemoth called her _‘Ellie-Scarlet’?_ The fuck is going on?

_____ _

And then she’s half a step in front of him and he can’t help but try to shrink back into the android holding him in place, because something in Ella’s face suddenly strikes him with the thought that she’s going to kill him. She is honestly, truly going to try to end his existence tonight.

_____ _

She grabs him, snugging one hand around his throat, and he can feel her thumb and index finger pressing hard at the corners of his jaw while her other hand latches on to his arm. Between Ella and the TR400 he is pushed against the wall, and it is laughably easy for them to move him even as he tries to struggle, tries to break free even though there’s nowhere to go.

_____ _

There’s nowhere to go. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, no one to help him because Gavin _still_ hasn’t showed up.

_____ _

“Gavin,” he shouts, because calling out for his partner can’t do him any more harm at this point. “GA-”

_____ _

Ella throws herself at him, pins him to the wall with her considerable weight and shoves her hand down with unnecessary force that hurts, _hurts,_ and- And his throat is moving but he literally cannot draw any air past the pressure of her hand.

_____ _

His eyes start to drop shut and he writhes, feels a hand release one of his arms so he reaches up, reaches for Ella’s hand, for her wrist. He digs his fingers into skin, trying to hurt her enough that she’ll- But she’s an android. A whimper rises up and he chokes it out, grabbing on to Ella’s wrist but that’s all, that’s all he can do.

_____ _

It’s almost enough to make him give in.

_____ _

But he kicks out, making contact with something and the death grip on his throat lessens. He gasps, a small ragged breath making its way down into his lungs, then another, and he can’t help but sag back, the absolute panic for breath draining away a little.

_____ _

He’s more effectively pinned to the wall, Ella pressing her hips against his body, and kicking won’t do anything now because she’s standing firmly between his legs, but he can _breathe._ God, he can breathe, even if only just. It’s enough to keep the dark spots out of his vision and the tingling from his fingers. It’s enough to keep him conscious.

_____ _

She’s still got her hand wrapped around his throat tight enough to feel it with every breath he takes, but he can deal with that because he’s able to suck in another. He’s so focused on that _\- on blessed air -_ that the warm fingers creeping up under his shirt don’t exactly register until they’re climbing up the centre of his chest.

_____ _

His eyes drop closed, the effort of keeping them open paling in comparison with breathing, and for a strange second the warm hand under his shirt feels like Gavin. Touching him, tracing his scars, almost _worshipping_ his skin and he starts relaxing into the warm touch-

_____ _

It's enough to make his eyes fly open and his head crashes back against the wall in a badly thought out attempt to loosen the hand still partially blocking his airways.

_____ _

This is _not_ Gavin.

_____ _

If this was Gavin, he wouldn’t be getting choked to the point that his vision is fuzzing out around the edges and he’s shaking because he hasn’t been getting enough _goddamn air_ -

_____ _

He starts up his struggle again, grabbing at the arm that is to blame for his limited air, and he tries to be a little calmer this time, a little smarter, because his nails may scrabble uselessly against an android’s chassis but he’s been taught how to fuck up an elbow joint. So he tries for that, reaches farther out to push where he knows the panels of her chassis click together, tries to find just the right one-

_____ _

Ella growls, her nails raking harshly against his skin as she drags her hand out from under his shirt. She shoves his bound hands above his head, taking the opportunity to smack his head back against the wall because he hasn’t already been hit against hard surfaces enough apparently.

_____ _

She grabs his throat again, pressing, squeezing, constricting his airways little by little and his hands are now useless. He isn’t strong enough to break her grip, especially with this awkward positioning, so he’s- he’s stuck, helpless and not quite desperate for breath but he _knows_ it won’t be long.

_____ _

Her hand works up under his shirt again as if nothing has changed, and one nail describes a circle in the middle of his chest - where a pump regulator would be placed - then shifts up to over his heart, and he very nearly holds his breath, but fear of getting cut off at any moment forces him to keep gasping ugly breaths in.

_____ _

”You tore out my heart,” Ella whispers, and she sounds so heartbroken but determined and immovable at the same time. “Killed the one I love… I would _love_ to rip out your heart…” Her grip tightens, then loosens fractionally. “But you don’t even _have one,_ do you? You’re worse than a goddamn machine.”

_____ _

“Let him go.”

_____ _

Nines can’t decide whether to be happy at the voice that has finally found him. The android that has finally found him. There’s relief rising up in him, but there’s also a trickle of ice down his back, and he flicks his gaze past Ella to see him.

_____ _

She loosens her grip for just a second before pushing him back against the wall, and then she turns to stare down Gavin’s gun, aimed unwaveringly at her. She smirks a little, fucking tuts at him. “Do you really think you can shoot me and leave him unscathed?” she asks, and that trickle of ice expands across his entire body, settling heavy in his stomach.

_____ _

Because she’s right. At this distance, with the way Ella is pinning him to the wall with her own body, there’s no way Gavin can hit her in a place that will make her release Nines and not hurt him too. Her chassis isn’t specially reinforced, a bullet will rip through her as easily as it would a human body. And then it would proceed to rip through a human body.

_____ _

Why does he have to be so fucking fragile? He’s useless as anything other than leverage here, and they all have to know it.

_____ _

Ella shifts her hand from Nines’ throat, rising to cover his mouth and nose instead and he barely realizes the chance he has to gasp in a full breath, and it rasps and hurts.

_____ _

Gavin’s expression tightens, and Nines isn’t sure whether it’s because of that sound or- or the redness that’s surely ringing his throat that Ella just made visible.

_____ _

She sighs, sounding satisfied somehow, and digs her nails in on his chest, dragging them down his skin as if she’s showing off. And she might as well be, exhibiting her prize, and Nines is trapped enough that he can’t escape but he can still move a little. And he does move, writhing helplessly when she drags her nails into his body again, sharp points of pain contesting the lightness he’s starting to feel.

_____ _

Gavin lunges forward, gun still held at the ready though Nines knows his android, knows he won’t shoot if there’s a chance of fatal injury to him, and that’s going to be their undoing, he’s sure. Because Ella does not seem like she’s going to hesitate.

_____ _

Her gaze goes distant for a moment, and then a crowd of androids appears around Gavin. He doesn’t shoot, and they wrest the gun from his hands while Nines forces himself to watch, makes himself watch the massive TR400 grab Gavin’s arm, and then the others dive in, each taking hold of a part of _his_ android.

_____ _

No, no…

_____ _

“You want a machine?” Gavin growls, pulling half-heartedly at one of the hands holding him back, testing their grip. “Keep hurting him and I promise that you’ll fuckin get one.” Oh, that’s not entirely reassuring. No, that- That’s a little concerning.

_____ _

_“Oh,”_ Ella says, and turns to look at Nines, leans in close and jerks his head to the side to force him to look directly at Gavin, he can’t even see her in his fuzzy peripheries anymore. “You made him love you, didn’t you?” It’s not a question.

_____ _

Nines knows he's staring wide-eyed at Gavin, knows that he probably looks a little wild and a lot desperate. It’s become clear that she fully intends to kill him right here in her bare hands, and no matter how badly he's sure Gavin wants to stop that from happening, the TR400 and the other androids are very effective in holding the NK900 back. He can feel awareness trying to slip away from him, can tell the edges of the hallway in his peripherals have gone dark. There's no way Gavin can get to him in time.

_____ _

He flails weakly in Ella's hold, keeping her on her toes and at least a bit distracted from the way he's staring hard at Gavin. He can't speak - his voice would probably be a wreck anyways - so he tries to be expressive. Tries to _emote_ like Gavin had ribbed him about for weeks when they were first partnered but he never had much reason to show his feelings before h- Nines tries to use his face to tell Gavin everything he needs to say. _I love you_ in the way his gaze softens, _I trust you_ and _It's not your fault_ and _love you, love you, love you…_

_____ _

The way Gavin shudders backwards and pales tells him that his android gets it. And the subsequent straightening of his shoulders, the hardening of grey eyes tells Nines that Gavin is probably going to destroy everyone in this hallway - and then himself.

_____ _

That hurts. It fucking _hurts,_ more than the sharp tightness in Nines’ chest and the dizzy ache in his head, and maybe that's because it's his heart alone that gets to deal with the knowledge that when he dies, Gavin's going to follow on his heels. He’s going to die here in this stupid building with Gavin so very nearly in reach but he knows _he knows_ that the woman cutting off his air intake is never going to let him have relief.

_____ _

Something changes in the set of Gavin’s body. It’s like a piece clicks into place, a piece that turned his shoulders into a sharp line and his eyes into silver ice and his expression into something dark. “There’s only eight of you here,” he says, looking almost dismissive. “That’s not going to stop me.” His voice is distorting, sounding distant like he’s twice as far away as he is.

_____ _

And that- fuck, Nines knows somehow, knows that the way his love’s voice sounds distant and weird and wrong is a sign. He’s going to drop unconscious any second now.

_____ _

“Good luck,” Ella growls, pushing her body up against his. He ignores her though, because- Because Gavin is watching him. Because he can’t breathe and he can’t make a sound and he can’t move. Because… Gavin smashes through the androids restraining him and then… then lunges towards Ella, is grabbed back almost immediately. Because he just… he...

_____ _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so um  
> don't hate me too much?  
> i....  
> yeah  
> here y'all go, as promised, the last chapter of **Ghost from your Past** , which....... doesn't resolve a whole helluva lot tbh  
> sorry not sorry?

Hank checks his gun again, not dragging his gaze away from the abandoned building growing ever bigger in the windshield as his hands go through the motions. He’s- yeah, he’s worried. Gavin's urgent request had set him on edge back at the station; he’d immediately started prodding Connor up and into his jacket, ordering him to leave their work on the desk. When he hacked RK and Gavin’s case file and the Lieutenant paled when they came to the list of androids, that tension had only deepened.

When he’d heard the desperate… _scream_ 21.4 seconds ago his spine had snapped straight and his fingers started twitching for something, anything to hold on to. Sarah back at the station was forwarding the distressed reports from other androids who’d received the inarticulate sound, and Hank has actually just told her, his voice a little shaky, to file them all together and stop passing them on.

Something… Something bad happened.

He knows he isn’t doing very well at controlling his reaction. Connor keeps glancing sideways at him, his own hands clenched around the cruiser’s steering wheel. They could have chosen to put it on auto, but…

Hank blinks, focuses his vision a little farther - on the building’s front doors. There’s movement, one of the double doors swinging open and a single figure stepping out- Well, that’s not quite accurate. He sees an LED spinning frantic yellow at the head of the strangely shaped figure, so Gavin has to be carrying RK out. Hank draws in a rough breath.

“Keep the cruiser on,” he orders as Connor pulls to a stop. Hank doesn’t even wait for him to change gears, he’s unlocked his door and is shoving it open to leap down to the sidewalk. There are splashes of bright thirium all over Gavin, some of it already evaporated but some of it wet enough that Connor will be able to see still. Gavin’s face is nearly devoid of expression, RK completely limp in his arms.

This… does not look good.

Hank hurries around the front of the cruiser and strides over, moving much faster than Gavin to meet him halfway, and there’s a tingle of something unpleasant in his wiring because Gavin does not acknowledge him beyond a flick of his silvery eyes that indicates an ID scan. Which… Yeah.

“Let me take him,” Hank says, firm but soft, because Gavin hasn’t changed his trajectory to walk towards the cruiser. He must be heading for RK’s car, wherever it’s parked. Hank reaches out when his suggestion gets no reaction, and Gavin _snarls,_ the sound more static than it is vocalization and he sounds just as inhuman as he had in Cyberlife Tower when they’d first found him.

Hank is… not going to think about that now.

“Fine, come on. Con’s in the cruiser, ready to go.”

Gavin stops his movement, stands still and just stares, tracking Hank’s moves as he turns to lead the way. He takes a few steps, but there’s silence behind him.

Oh no, this is not at all reassuring. “Gavin.” No response. Fuck. “NK900,” Hank says, his voice grating on the model name and he hates it he _hates it-_ “Get in the cruiser’s backseat.” There’s a single deliberate blink, and then Gavin pivots cleanly on one foot to head for the cruiser.

Hank starts to move again as well, has to force himself to slow because he has a deep, terrifying want to literally sprint over to yank the back door open for the other android.

It’s hard, it’s really fucking hard because he has a theory as to what’s going on but- he really doesn’t like it. He climbs into the backseat first, avoids Connor’s worried gaze because he can’t deal with that right now as well. It’s almost a good thing that the Lieutenant had stopped facing this direction, because that means Gavin is climbing in to sit directly behind the driver’s seat where Connor won’t be able to see him or RK.

“Connor Anderson if there is ever a time I need you to do as I say without question, this is it,” Hank says - very nearly growls - and he knows full well that a statement like that isn’t gonna reduce the anxiety vibrating in the front seat. He doesn’t- He doesn’t fucking care, because he knows without running a single scan that RK needs an ER seven minutes ago, and if he needs to lock the cruiser into manual mode and shock Connor into driving, then by rA9 he will.

He doesn’t, but Hank does flip the lights and sirens on himself as the cruiser is jolted into drive and starts racing away from the office building.

rA9, let RK be alright.

He should- His first-aid/EM protocols are scattered, and he takes a precious second to try to gather them up into a state resembling useable. He should be able to do something, he should be able to help, but he’s freaking out a little bit.

Freaking out because of both of the barely responsive bodies with him in the backseat, not just the human one. Gavin is- Gavin seems gone. Just distant, almost completely indifferent with the way he watches Hank with blank silver eyes. Which is wrong. Hank’s seen the way these two are acting around each other recently, the ways they look at each other. Connor rolled his eyes and chuckled the one day he’d pointed it out curiously, muttering _‘They’re so gross and in love, I hate it.’_

He’d filed that away, marked their behaviour and expressions and words and-and- He’d marked it all as **|Love|** and he’d gotten used to the expressions of affection. But now- Seeing this- Gavin distant and silent, Nines limp and completely nonresponsive, tiny breaths rasping in through his bruised throat… Something happened in there, and Gavin should have pinged for an ambulance, but he didn’t- and he should have updated Hank on the situation but he didn’t- and he should be taking unnecessary breaths and blinking and glaring and swearing but- but he isn’t.

Something is wrong with Gavin.

**Author's Note:**

> *runs away...*  
> yeaahhh... y'all are likely to hate me a little for the way I'm planning to cut this into chapters  
> just  
> yeah  
> this is...emotional...when I just read through the bits I've written up, so uh....  
> sorry? in advance?..


End file.
